I run dual GTX660Ti 3GB version, mostly only for my 6 screens setup, I don't really game, and when I do, it's only small games that don't really require lots of power. I don't use them in SLI, it's only to get the 6 monitors input I needed at that time.
What do people here use for video cards
- Thread starter MiniKnight
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Not sure if additional performance is needed or is it more of a noise issue but my last video card was a reference 5870 and the blower would get pretty loud under load in gaming.
I finally took the cooler off and noticed old pastey thermal compound, this was only 1 year in. I removed the old and replaced with thin coat of MX4 and that dropped my temps about 10C under load. More amazingly the fan didn't even need to hit same RPM before temps leveled off.
I was then able to define an even more silent fan profile and traded a few degrees for a silent gaming experience, my fan never had to go over 50%
I finally took the cooler off and noticed old pastey thermal compound, this was only 1 year in. I removed the old and replaced with thin coat of MX4 and that dropped my temps about 10C under load. More amazingly the fan didn't even need to hit same RPM before temps leveled off.
I was then able to define an even more silent fan profile and traded a few degrees for a silent gaming experience, my fan never had to go over 50%
I split my gaming functions off from my workstation a while ago. Both are attached to the same set of monitors: a Dell U3011 and two 2007FPS in PLP orientation. My workstation card is an Nvidia 640GT - it has no issues driving all three monitors, but it's typical 2D desktop and multimedia stuff, nothing extreme.
My gaming rig has Xfired 7970 and 280x.
My gaming rig has Xfired 7970 and 280x.
How do you deal with the temps in XFired 7970? I had the same setup initially then sold one since I don't need the performance in most of my games and the top card, having it's fans partially blocked by the 2nd card would get 10C hotter and insanely loud.
An arseload of cooling in my gaming rig. The 7970/280x is nothing compared to the pair of GTX 570 I had when it comes to noise and heat.
Here are my build posts from in Ars "Post your Rig" thread:
2013 "Post your Rig" thread - Ars Technica OpenForum
2013 "Post your Rig" thread - Ars Technica OpenForum
I have the gaming rig in a Corsair Obsidian 650d. There is a 200mm front intake fan, a rear AF120, and the H105 has four SP120's in push/pull venting air out the top of the case. It does get loud, but I game with headphones on so the noise doesn't bother me much. The noise, heat and power draw are what moved me to segregate my workstation from my gamer. The X58 platform was my gaming platform of yesteryear; I started using it as an ESX host when I built the Z68/2600K in December of 2011 ... The X58 was a bit slow, so I dropped in an X5670 recently.
This reminds me, I really need to find some DIMMs with blue heat spreaders for my workstation.
Oh, speaking of noise, I ended up yanking one of the SP120's out of my X58. Since the board sucks for overclocking I didn't need the extra cooling, and the noise the push/pull configuration on the Corsair H60 generated was unbearable.
Thanks for the insights, I did watercooling back in the old school days before things were pre-fabbed, had to make my own waterblock etc but eventually moved back to air because of the hassle associated. With AIO coolers like H100i etc that's less of an issue, but you would still need to remove block or radiator when you want to remove board etc and from a cost perspective something like Phanateks or Noctua high end provides same/better cooling in some cases with less noise. I guess my question is, why go watercooling nowadays with AIO unless you're doing full custom loop that can drop the noise/temps significantly (more than 5C)? Especially with the risk of leaks/pump failure?An arseload of cooling in my gaming rig. The 7970/280x is nothing compared to the pair of GTX 570 I had when it comes to noise and heat.
Here are my build posts from in Ars "Post your Rig" thread:
2013 "Post your Rig" thread - Ars Technica OpenForum
2013 "Post your Rig" thread - Ars Technica OpenForum
I have the gaming rig in a Corsair Obsidian 650d. There is a 200mm front intake fan, a rear AF120, and the H105 has four SP120's in push/pull venting air out the top of the case. It does get loud, but I game with headphones on so the noise doesn't bother me much. The noise, heat and power draw are what moved me to segregate my workstation from my gamer. The X58 platform was my gaming platform of yesteryear; I started using it as an ESX host when I built the Z68/2600K in December of 2011 ... The X58 was a bit slow, so I dropped in an X5670 recently.
This reminds me, I really need to find some DIMMs with blue heat spreaders for my workstation.
Because A) I'm lazy, B) I like the colors, and C) I don't use my gaming rig enough to justify the time investment of a custom loop.
These days I spend the time I used to spend gaming working on lab projects. I get gaming obsessed in phases, so I'm sure I'll revisit the gaming rig at some point, but right now I'm obsessed with finishing my lab build-out so I can focus on obtaining my VCP.
Sorry, I meant why get a Corsair H100i or similar AIO watercooler vs. high end Noctua/Phanatek that cools just as well? Seems even less hassle and worry and quieter performance to boot.
I guess my thought is go big or go home with watercooling and I'm trying to get some perspective on why people use AIO kits that seems to offer no benefits of either world
Yeah, pretty much for the reasons I listed above, primarily sloth.
I have Corsair Obsidian 800D and 650D chassis for the rigs in my office - they are so roomy (esp the 800D) that space for radiator blocks is not an issue. I had a H60 that I'd been running with pretty good success for ~4 years, so I just went for the quick and dirty when I re-located my gaming rig instead of looking at alternatives. I have always been extremely happy building in Corsair chassis', so I suppose I have gotten lazy and select their cooling components by default.
Almost all of those AIO things are junk. Overpriced cheap, shitty aluminum radiators and anemic pumps. I went from a Corsair H100 to an Akasa Medusa and the temperature drop was significant going to the large air cooler.
Swiftech H220-X is the one exception. $150, AIO, and not cheap garbage parts. Copper radiator too. AND, you can expand it to a custom loop if you want to loop in a GPU. With the swiftech AIO kit being the only exception, go big or go home otherwise.
Swiftech H220-X is the one exception. $150, AIO, and not cheap garbage parts. Copper radiator too. AND, you can expand it to a custom loop if you want to loop in a GPU. With the swiftech AIO kit being the only exception, go big or go home otherwise.
Thank you, that was my question, why get water AIO if high end air would equal or beat it. High end water is of course in another league but too much cost and hassle for most.
Seems like your experiences agree with that assessment
I'll keep that in mind for when it's time to upgrade. I swear, sometimes it feels like I upgrade my gaming rig more than I actually game on it.
When you guys say "go big or go home" regarding water cooling are you saying get a big, highly effective radiator (bigger than what's in most AIO's) or are you saying buy superior components across the board that you wouldn't normally find in an AIO? I can see how water cooling might be a worthwhile tool of last resort to get enough quiet, when air cooling just doesn't seem to cut the mustard.
Wait that's not the game were talking about? Im confused nowI'll keep that in mind for when it's time to upgrade. I swear, sometimes it feels like I upgrade my gaming rig more than I actually game on it.
That's definitely what I mean, basically custom designed loops with care given to balance of components and high heat dissipation. Most of time costing $150+ for CPU and GPU alone. To me, the <$100 market is cornered by high end air and no point going water unless some crazy deal is around
I'm not sure why the hate for AIO water system. Myself, I don't see the point in EVER going full water and OCing other than "for fun" and to just "do it".
I used a H100i for a3930k and it worked fine, OC'd fine, stayed cool, and did it's job just fine.
I use a H60i for a L5639 OC and it works awesome, I removed the OC and let the H60i keep it cool, and SILENT with Noctua fans.
If The h60i is quieter than air, and works as good or better and cost ~50$ on sale for H80 or H60... seems like a no brainer to me. No hassle, no install problem, etc.
Then again if you're not OCing or don't care about sound much I wouldn't risk any water in my system, but hey, that's me
I used a H100i for a3930k and it worked fine, OC'd fine, stayed cool, and did it's job just fine.
I use a H60i for a L5639 OC and it works awesome, I removed the OC and let the H60i keep it cool, and SILENT with Noctua fans.
If The h60i is quieter than air, and works as good or better and cost ~50$ on sale for H80 or H60... seems like a no brainer to me. No hassle, no install problem, etc.
Then again if you're not OCing or don't care about sound much I wouldn't risk any water in my system, but hey, that's me
I think I spent around AU$750 on my watercooling loop.
Custom loop with: CPU waterblock, motherboard waterblock (VRM & Southbridge), GPU waterblock, 1x 240mm Rad, 1x 120mm Rad, dual pumps (redundant), all with software monitoring for temps and pump flow.
That said, when I built it I wasn't doing it for any specific requirement to do so, I built it for benchmarking. even taking the IHS off the 3770k processor, it was fun to see IF i could do it.
Custom loop with: CPU waterblock, motherboard waterblock (VRM & Southbridge), GPU waterblock, 1x 240mm Rad, 1x 120mm Rad, dual pumps (redundant), all with software monitoring for temps and pump flow.
That said, when I built it I wasn't doing it for any specific requirement to do so, I built it for benchmarking. even taking the IHS off the 3770k processor, it was fun to see IF i could do it.
For benching, testing, fun, etc I understand it.
But to spend $75o to OC for gaming in my mind ridiculous. Why not get a 2nd video card it would improve performance better than going fro 3.xghz to 4.xghz would... TitanFall, BF4, my 5930k never goes above 30% CPU even with only a 270x. The 2 Core Pentium I tried to game with... ya that didn't work so well, LOL!! 100% CPU and drastic framerate changes.
But to spend $75o to OC for gaming in my mind ridiculous. Why not get a 2nd video card it would improve performance better than going fro 3.xghz to 4.xghz would... TitanFall, BF4, my 5930k never goes above 30% CPU even with only a 270x. The 2 Core Pentium I tried to game with... ya that didn't work so well, LOL!! 100% CPU and drastic framerate changes.
Oh, that's simple, I've now got a 3.5 - 3.9GHz (boost) CPU on a stable 24/7 5.2GHz overclock. The GPU is also on a roughly 35% overclock and dead stable. Temps for the whole setup generally stay within a 5-10 degree delta over ambient (which can mean a lot on a 45 degree aussie summer day).
As I said, it wasn't primarily built for gaming, I built it for funsies, benchmarking, folding, rendering, VM host, video conversion, everything really. It's been 100% stable and has travelled about 16,000 KMs with me as I've moved houses around the country. With the exception of the GPU block and motherboard block the whole thing can shift to any other platform I decide to put in there, so one (good) watercooling system can easily last me over several hardware upgrades and I'll still get fantastic rock stable performance.